4x4 of the best
sMALL STEPS
W
hen Tom Kirk first bought his Jimny, he ran it standard for ‘a few days.’ That’s normally enough. On went as set of AT tyres, and those didn’t hang about long either before being kicked into touch for a set of MTs.
56 | MARCH 2023
10pp 4x4 of the Best Mar 23.indd 56
Words: Tom Alderney Pics: Harry Hamm
These were 31x10.50R15s, making them a lot bigger than standard. Which meant there was work to be done if they were going to fit. Now, there are various ways of lifting a vehicle. They’re all good but, like chocolate and sex, you can have too much of a good thing. After a certain amount of chocolate, you want a nice salad. After a certain amount of sex, you want… well, more sex but with someone else. Or a rest. Or maybe some chocolate. Anyway. Tom hedged his bets about as much as you possibly can. He mixed four separate techniques for making the bigger tyres fit, which sounds like the 4x4 equivalent of chocolate fondue or an orgy but unlike either of those things is very sensible. Obviously, when you’re talking about off-roaders the place to start is with the
suspension. More height doesn’t necessarily mean more flex, but if does offer loads of potential – which Tom made the most of with a +3” set-up featuring Pro-Comp shocks. He also used 1” spring spacers, adding more lift between the chassis and axles – though obviously this doesn’t do anything more for the truck’s articulation. Neither does a body lift, but he added one of these too anyway with +2” spacers hiking the distance from the chassis to the tub. This, of course, is a way of creating better ground clearance and making space for bigger tyres – as is trimming the wheelarches, and he did plenty of that too. Even the tyres themselves add 2-3” in lift, being so much taller than the Jimny’s weedy little 205/70R15 originals. So that, between
4x4 13/02/2023 23:12
